Living on the Northside of Chicago gave me a rare opportunity to go see the Eastern men’s basketball team as a fan rather than in my usual role of reporter.

The Panthers opened up their season on the road against the DePaul Blue Demons at the All State Arena.

I went into the game thinking the Panthers were going to get their tails handed to them. I mean c’mon. The Panthers went 6-21 last year and were sitting at home watching March Madness while the Blue Demons were actually a part of it.

The Panthers were not good last year, and it hurt me to watch it. I was at every home game, and they let so many slip away. Then I had to go and talk to players and coaches who really didn’t want to talk about what had just happened.

But on Nov. 23 I was in attendance as a fan. I even paid for a ticket! I had a press pass waiting for me, but I wanted to experience the game as a fan. I paid $11 for parking, $9 for a ticket and $4.50 for some nachos. Then I went and took my seat behind the Panthers’ bench.

The game was tied at halftime, much to my surprise, and I was preparing myself for a second half let down just like the Panthers had done so many times last year.

However, perhaps more surprising was with 1.5 seconds left, the Panthers were down only two points and had a shot to tie or even win the game.

Unfortunately Dildy’s last second three pointer rimmed out and the Panthers fell to DePaul 53-51.

In all the games I attended last year at Lantz Arena, I never thought the Panther faithful overwhelmed our opponents. Of course last year those same fans didn’t have much to cheer about most of the time. But with about four minutes or so left in the second half on Nov. 23 I noticed a whole bunch of Eastern fans standing up and chanting E-I-U…E-I-U…E-I-U. One of those fans was this year’s starting quarterback Matt Schabert.

I had to join in. After all, it’s not every day I get the chance to be a fan before a reporter.

Last year I wrote column after column about how the fans should come out and support the team, but I assume my readers read the basketball game follows and realized the team wasn’t winning. Why watch a team that’s just going to break your heart night after night?

Well this year I can’t tell you how much it’s going to mean to be a Panther fan. In the first game of the season it was easy to notice how much Eastern has improved since just a year ago.

For instance Andy Gobczynski’s single highest rebounding game last year was six. In his first game against DePaul this year it seemed as if “Gobby” was there for every single rebound. Turns out he had 10, but it seemed like a whole lot more.

Emanuel Dildy played like a point guard should play. He managed the game, didn’t get tense in the late minutes of the game and hit a couple big three pointers.

Josh Gomes had an off night shooting wise, but he played with poise and showed signs that he could score 25 points a night if he wanted to.

The Panthers bench is also a lot deeper than it was last year.

There’s no reason there shouldn’t be noise coming from fans in the seats of Lantz arena this season, because this year’s team is going to make some noise on the court.